This invention is related in general to networking and more specifically to versatile network architectures and accompanying systems and methods for configuring associated networks.
Systems for configuring networks are employed in various demanding applications including establishing university, government, and business networks. Such networks often demand reliable network architectures that may be readily adapted to meet the needs of a given application.
Business networks, such as e-commerce and business-to-business data-center networks, are often particularly demanding. Such applications often require customized distributed-data networks that provide various intelligent, secure, and reliable core functions, such as but not limited to Ethernet switching, Fiber-channel switching, and Infiniband switching as well as application services, such as anomaly detection, intrusion detection, content switching, firewall, and so on, in a flexible and scaleable server-farm environment.
Conventionally, businesses design and build custom networks tailored to specific applications. Certain features, such as anomaly detection, call management, and so on, are required for some applications and not for others. Accordingly, any special requirements were typically met by custom designing and incorporating each desired network feature. This resulted in excessive design and development costs.